After denying assertions by Majority leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Richard Hanna that the House Select Committee on Benghazi was “designed to go after” Hillary Clinton, Chairman Trey Gowdy and his fellow inquisitors spent 11 hours going after Clinton by throwing vitriolic verbal knives at her.
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Clinton said the lack of bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans blocks progress from being made. “In many instances, we found ourselves having to not defend Secretary Clinton but to make sure the record was complete, and I’m glad that the public had an opportunity to see all of that”.
Whatever the case, experts said the hearings are unlikely to harm Clinton’s run for the presidency, contending that those who like Clinton will judge the situation in her favor.
Clinton had warm words for Vice President Joe Biden, who announced this week he wouldn’t seek the White House. “I don’t consider her an enemy”, he added. “He is liberated and I don’t think history is done with him”. I feel very strongly about that. Vox’s Matt Yglesias crowed that Mrs. Clinton “ended up mopping the floor with her antagonists”.
Nunes said it’s worth following up with Clinton as to why the State Department’s emergency response team was not deployed if Clinton did, in fact, chalk up the attack as an act of terrorism.
“And there wasn’t any rational argument – because I was in on a few of those discussions, on both “don’t ask, don’t tell” and on – on DOMA, where both the president, his advisers and, occasionally, I, would chime in and talk about, “You can’t be serious”.
Yet the 17-month-old inquiry, which 400; font-style: “normal; font-variant: “normal; text-decoration: “underline; vertical-align: “baseline;” Democrats say has cost $4.8 million and counting, promises to go on, as Gowdy stated the select committee has a “couple dozen” witnesses left to interview about the siege that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
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Brooks said lawmakers would “love” to get all of the outstanding interviews done this year, but didn’t rule out the possibility of them going into 2016. “And it is not an easy position to be in, and you have to try to think, OK, what is the least bad choice?”
